Snarky witch and main protagonist Mika Moon has been taught by her guardian Primrose that, to be a witch, you must be alone. It is too dangerous for witches to gather. Mika and Primrose are among a few dozen witches in England, who do meet irregularly under the guise of a “book club” and always at remote locations where they will not be discovered. Mika also knows that witches are orphans, due to some long-forgotten curse that backfired. And she knows that she really would like the opportunity to find a sense of belonging–to tell close friends who and what she is. But alas no.
Mika flirts with danger by setting up an Instagram account where she does witchy spells that appear to be via the use of filters and other tricks. Obviously there are no “real” witches, right? But her account is viewed by the mysterious family living at Nowhere House, who are desperate for a witch to teach their three young witches how to be witchy. In the end, they do lure Mika into their home and into their bizarre circumstances. Three witches living together! Unheard of.
Will this witch save the day, and protect her witchy friends? Or will it all be a great big mistake?
The author of The Poppy War delivers yet another stunning fantasy novel about treachery, magic, and empire building. In Babel, we find ourselves in 1830s Oxford, specifically at the prestigious Royal Institute of Translation, a.k.a. Babel. The role of Babel is to provide translations services to the British Empire, but more important silver working. In this fantastical version of England, the county and its colonies is run on a magical process of manifesting the meaning of two words into something more powerful. Match pairs like the Chinese word “wúxíng” and the English word “invisible” can be uttered by a bilingual speaker to make themselves invisible. Pairing the word “speed” with its Latin root “spes” can magically enhance the speed of a vehicle.
The British Empire has great need for translators who can discover more and more match pairs to make looms run on their own, to keep carts on the road, to strengthen their battleships or hone in on their targets. To that end, young Robin Swift is plucked from his home in Canton by Professor Lovell and trained in Latin, Ancient Greek and Chinese, with the end goal being that he join Babel and serve the Empire.
Robin is not alone. His cohort includes Ramy from Pakistan, Victoire from Haiti, and Letty Price, a lovely British rose who is adept at languages but will never be the son her father wanted. The four are each wowed by their privilege but Robin soon discovers a darker side to Babel. He meets his half-brother Griffin who is part of an underground resistance movement. Robin is suddenly caught up in undermining Babel and his peers. He starts to see more clearly Britain’s exploitation of other cultures and the appropriation of their linguistic resources for its own gain. Will his classmates join him? Will he abandon the cause?
I can’t tell you too much without ruining various plot twists but I can say that the play of language throughout the book, the etymology of words, and the power of magic are all very enjoyable aspects of this book. The colonization, the prejudices, the disparities between those in power and those who must carry the burden are all too familiar elements of human history.
If you liked Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell then you’ll enjoy the power struggles in Babel. If you liked Poppy War, then you’ll like the heroics of this feisty group of young Babblers.
A Court of Thorns and Roses is a fantasy romance series that is wildly popular. I have resisted reading it until now. And although romance is not my favourite type of read, this was a fun escape into a terrifying magical world of warring faeries.
Feyre is the sole provider for her family. She hunts in the woods and sells what she can to feed her father and two sisters. One day in early Spring, she is faced with killing a wolf that is hunting the only wildlife she has seen in days. If she kills both the deer and the wolf then it will be a game-changing act for her family.
Turns out the wolf was a faerie in disguise, one sent by a high lord who turns up at Feyre’s and demands retribution. Feyre is dragged off to his lands, not as a slave, but as a guest. It’s all alarming to her (and perhaps obvious to the reader that she is going to fall in love with this guy).
I can totally see why fans are crazy for this series. I’m mildly interested in book 2 but get the sense that it will be full of angst and melancholy.
The author website has all the books, and info on her other series, so if you’re into a slightly spicy fantasy series then I’d start here.
Gregor the Overlander was originally published in 2003 and it was completely off my radar until my son’s grade 6 class started reading it in school. This is an epic fantasy series. Suzanne Collins’ writing is as strong as it is in Hunger Games, which was published in 2008, but the story is for a slightly younger audience
I’d say Gregor is for age 9-12 and it is scarier than Dragon Masters but not as scary or mature as Harry Potter or as terrifying as Hunger Games. Gregor the Overlander is on par with Impossible Creatures but more sophisticated in the layers of storytelling.
Gregor is caring for his younger sister when they fall through a grate in their apartment’s laundry room. Gregor and “Boots,” his sister, land in the Underland, where big cockroaches rescue them by taking them to Regalia. Regalia is inhabited by humans with translucent skin and violet eyes. They are warriors who fly around on bats and they are on the verge of war with the rats. Giant, talking rats. Gregor soon learns of a prophecy that foretells of a warrior who will save Regalia, and in the riddle of the prophecy he believes that joining the adventure might lead him to his father, who mysteriously disappeared and may be employed/enslaved by the rats.
This is a fast-paced novel with excellent drama, villains who are friends, and twists of fortune. I enjoyed it so much that I also read the next book in the series, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane.
If you like world-building fantasy that is full of adventure then read this endearing story of struggle and bravery.
Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell was the YA novel for the 2024 holiday season. Every store was promoting it as “an instant classic.” I don’t know. I was willing to love it, but actually it was only ok. It did not capture me the way Harry Potter, Percy Jackson or even The Chronicles of Narnia did. But lots of people who read similar things that I like, did love it.
Impossible Creatures is magical adventure that sweeps young Christopher into a landscape of mythical creatures that he must help save with his new friend Mal. Along the way they meet useful adults, dragons, and other creatures who help them understand what is happening to the glimourie (the magical substance that supports life in this land) and how to save not just the magical world but also Christopher’s world.
The writing is functional. You are not struck with too much detail nor too little. But each character serves to advance the plot. It’s very linear, which is ok but definitely not the making of an instant classic. It’s no Philip Pullman. I’d recommend this for young readers (5-8) who are able to deal with older reader (8-12) storylines that involve a bit of suspense, death of a character and some violence but nothing close to Harry Potter or Percy Jackson. If you like the Dragon Masters series then this is a good next read.
The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake is the highly anticipated final installment of The Atlas Six series, featuring six powerful young magicians who have given up everything to come study with Atlas Blake and have access to the archive. In the last book, part of the initiation ceremony was killing one of their cohort, which they did not do. They are each out in the world, and basically on the run from a rival organization called the Forum. At the same time, they are looking to reconvene and see if their theories on the nature of time and the metaverse are accurate.
This book is a tangled web of alliances, betrayals, friendships and sacrifices. The dark forces at play are sometimes from within their group and sometimes from outside it. They all have ambition but their loyalties are always shifting. They have paired up in unexpected ways in this novel.
The Atlas Six series is a great work of speculative fiction. It’s layered with complex characters, interesting moral questions, and promises a final showdown that demonstrates the power these six wield. It wasn’t my favourite of the three book but it was worth the read.
If you loved the morally complex world of The Magicians or the intricate power plays of the first two books in the Atlas Six series, then you’ll enjoy this one too. The finale rewards fans with closure but leaves enough of the door open for you to imagine alternative endings or a continuation.
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake is a BookTok fav that I heard about in a BookNet Canada webinar. Olivie Blake totally delivers! I can see why early fans were so enthusiastic and why Tor picked up this self-published novel and re-issued it.
The six are a group of medeians (magicians) handpicked by Atlas Blakely for initiation into the Alexandrian Society, a secret society that protects the assumed-destroyed works of the Alexandrian Library.
TV show Survivor meets Harry Potter? Atlas is the reality show host?
Six are chosen to spend a year at the library in a sort of fellowship. But only five can be initiated into the society and continue on with their studies. Atlas (also a telepath), and his colleague Dalton (animator), act as the program director and esteemed professor.
The six are chosen for their outstanding abilities. Libby Rhodes and Nico Ferrer de Varona are physicists, or rather they can manipulate physical space. They are highly competitive and their love/hate relationship is clear from the beginning. Reina Mori is a Gaia (Mother Earth) figure. She can breathe life into plants, but she’s reluctant to use her powers because it’s draining. Tristan Caine can see quanta. Basically magic is visible to him. Callum Nova is an empath, a manipulative one. He can sense people’s emotions and make them feel things, which in turn makes them act according to his wishes. Parisa is an incredibly beautiful telepath. She uses her powers to seduce people into doing her will. So three with physical powers, two with mental powers, and one who can see power.
The novel is full of secrets, betrayals and seduction. Everyone is seeking power in different ways, so perhaps it’s also about greed. I loved how the story unfolds like a puzzle. Each of the characters can only take out certain books from the library. In many ways as readers we are limited in our access of understanding too.
Absolutely intriguing story.
The Atlas Six is perfect for readers who like the mystery of secret societies, the drama of relationships that unfold in intense situations, and the magic of physics, space, and time.
A beautiful story about belonging, friendship, and home.
TJ Klune deserves all the accolades this book has received and more.
A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, and WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER
A 2021 Alex Award winner
The 2021 RUSA Reading List: Fantasy Winner
An Indie Next Pick
One of Publishers Weekly‘s “Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2020”
One of Book Riot’s “20 Must-Read Feel-Good Fantasies”
Lambda Literary Award-winning author TJ Klune’s bestselling The House in the Cerulean Sea is considered his breakout contemporary fantasy — “1984 meets The Umbrella Academy with a pinch of Douglas Adams thrown in.” (Gail Carriger)
I am happy to read more from this author. The story is cheeky, magical, and funny (yet somber at times).
Linus Baker is a caseworker with DICOMY, the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. Imagine a caseworker who shows up at places like the X-Men school. But then add the layer of ridiculous bureaucracy.
Linus is full of reports. He sits at a small wooden desk, Row L Desk 7, in a room with 26 rows with 14 desks in each row. It’s stifling. No personal items. No talking. The threat of demerits.
Then one day he is summoned to the fifth floor, Extremely Upper Management, and assigned to a highly classified assignment: visit a far-gone orphanage where only the children with the most dangerous powers are kept. Gulp.
Linus meets a female garden gnome, a sprite, a wyvern (winged creature), an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist.
There are so many great moments in this book where Linus is struggling with his interior monologue (all fear based) and what actually needs to come out of his mouth (words of support and encouragement). In the quote below he has been dragged on a forest adventure with the children. The son of Lucifer is in charge today. He’s six.
“Okay,” Lucy said, stopping at the edge of the trees. He turned back toward the group, eyes wide. “As you all know, there is an evil sprite—”
“Hey!” Phee cried.
“Lucy, we don’t call people evil,” Arthur reminded him as Theodore settled on his shoulder. “It isn’t polite.”
Lucy rolled his eyes. “Fine. I take it back. There is a murderous sprite…” He paused, as if waiting for any objections. There were none. Even Phee seemed gleeful. Linus felt the point had been missed entirely, but thought it wise to keep his mouth shut. “A murderous sprite who has a treasure hidden deep in the woods that is ours for the taking. I cannot promise your survival. In fact, most likely even if you make it to the treasure, I will betray you and feed you to the alligators and laugh as they crunch your bones—”
“Lucy,” Arthur said again.
Lucy signed. “It’s my turn to be in charge.” He pouted.
chapter 10
Linus’ job is to report back to Extremely Upper Management on the house manager Arthur and the children’s welfare. He’s to recommend either it stays open or not. What he finds is a home full of magic—the fantasy kind and the kind that’s fostered by love.
This is a fairy tale for adults and any kid wise enough to understand the nuances of prejudice.
Meg, her twin brothers, and her baby brother Charles Wallace are desperate to hear news of their father. He’s disappeared and although Mother is keeping it together for the sake of the kids, they all know she’s upset.
The answers come on a dark and stormy night in the form of Calvin, the neighbour, and three witches (women? spirits?): Mrs Who, Mrs Which, and Mrs Whatsit.
Seems that father and mother have been experimenting with space and time travel, and the 3 Mrs’s are experts in it. They take Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace into another dimension to rescue the dad.
Perfect for fans of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz.
Description: Neverwhere is one of NPR’s top 100 science fiction and fantasy books of all time. For good reason. It was published in 1997 and over the years various versions have been produced for tv and radio. But the edition I read is the author’s preferred text. It’s a bit meandering but certainly makes some of the other versions feel a tad watered down.
The general story is that Richard Mayhew is a young businessman. He’s left Scotland to make his life in London. He’s happened, by chance, into a relationship with Jessica, who is a serious powerhouse and believes she can make him into the man of her dreams. Richard is a drip. En route to a very important dinner, the recently engaged couple have their plans thwarted when they come across a street girl who is badly injured. Richard insists on being a good Samaritan, which pisses off Jessica. She leaves in a huff and later calls off their wedding. This is all inconsequential to Richard who finds himself so deep in shit that a pissed off fiancee is the least of his worries. The girl Richard helps is from the London underworld. She’s undead or whatever would best describe someone who has been alive centuries. And it so happens that she’s being chased by assassins, creepy, creepy assassins. The Marquis de Carabas, Hunter, the girl Door (who is the noblewoman Lady Door), and Richard Mayhew embark on a quest to find who killed Door’s family and who is after her. There’s magic, misgivings, murderers, angels, and a whole world under London that is richer (and smellier) than Richard can even imagine. There’s even a night market held in Harrod’s, but London Below is such a different place than London Above. If Richard is noble enough, he might be able to return to his life. In the meantime, he’s going to die trying, maybe literally.
Favourite Moment: There are a ton of great moments with Richard, and the Marquis de Carabas is one of my favourite characters, but early on there is a little moment that perfectly depicts Jessica.
Jessica stood there on the sidewalk, watching him ruin her big evening, and her eyes stung with tears. After a while he was out of sight, and then, and only then, did she say, loudly and distinctly, as unladylike “Shit,” and fling her handbag as hard as she could onto the ground, hard enough to scatter her mobile phone and her lipstick and her planner and a handful of tampons across the concrete. And then, because there was nothing else to do, she picked them all up and put them back into her handbag and walked back down to the restaurant, to wait for Mr. Stockton.
Later, as she sipped her white wine, she tried to come up with plausible reasons why her fiancé was not with her, and found herself wondering desperately whether or not she could simply claim that Richard was dead.
“It was very sudden,” said Jessica, wistfully, under her breath.
Perfect for fans of … well of Neil Gaiman obviously. But otherwise, if you like radio plays, fantasy, science fiction, bizarre plot twists, Tim Burton, this is for you.
